Our People

King & Oliason’s experienced team of accountants are accessible and dedicated to providing the highest quality tax consulting to our clients. Our people come from diverse backgrounds, both personally and professionally. Several have been with the firm over ten years.

Of Counsel

Karol King, CPA

Karol E. King co-founded King & Oliason in 1990 after working for a national accounting firm. Karol has over 30 years of experience specializing in income and estate tax planning and compliance. Karol has served high net worth individuals and their related trusts, foundations, and closely held businesses. In addition, she has worked with real estate and service partnerships and LLCs, and professional service corporations. Karol received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and her Master of Tax degree from DePaul University in Chicago. Karol is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants.

Principals

Natalie Heitzeberg, CPA

Natalie has over 14 years of experience in providing services to high net worth individuals and their related trusts, private foundations, and related entities. She received a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Washington and a M.S. in Taxation from Golden Gate University. Outside of work, Natalie enjoys trying out new recipes and traveling. She is fully bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English.

Colleen Loughran, CPA

Colleen Loughran has worked in public accounting for over twenty years, the majority of that with King & Oliason. She provides tax consulting and compliance services to a diverse client base, with an emphasis in services to individuals and private foundations. Colleen has a Master in Taxation and a B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting from the University of Washington.

Carrie Oxnevad, CPA

Carrie has a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Washington. She worked for a national accounting firm and in private industry before joining King & Oliason in 2000. She is a board member of the Richmond Little League and is an active volunteer for the Shoreline School District.

Donita Pittis, CPA

Donita Pittis has worked with both national and regional CPA firms. She joined King & Oliason in 1993. In addition to providing tax services to our individual clients, she works with closely held businesses, partnerships, trusts, and estates. Donita has a B.A. in Accounting, with a minor in Business, from Western Washington University.

Tax Managers

Barb Dowd, CPA

Barb joined King & Oliason more than twenty years ago, after four years with a national accounting firm. She provides tax consulting and compliance services to a broad range of clients with an emphasis on high net worth individuals, estates, trusts, and private foundations. She has a B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting from the University of Washington.

David Ghanaie, CPA

David received his B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting and Finance degrees from Washington State University and his Master of Accountancy, Taxation from Gonzaga University. He has experience in public and private accounting at local and national firms. Some of his interests include playing soccer, beach volleyball, cycling, climbing and hiking, and snowboarding.

Andrea Kristof, CPA

Andrea has been with King & Oliason since 2008. She has a B.A. from University of Puget Sound and a M.B.A. from Seattle University and is a certified QuickBooks™ ProAdvisor. Prior to joining the firm, Andrea worked in both corporate and public accounting industries. Her experience spans the areas of accounting, tax, marketing, management, the legal industry, real estate development, non-profit financial management and financial consulting for small businesses. Her interests include hiking, cycling, gardening and tennis.

John Wilkinson, CPA

John received his B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting from Gonzaga University and his Master of Professional Accounting, Taxation from the University of Washington. He is a U.S. Army veteran who began his accounting career at a national firm in New York and worked as a controller for a minor league baseball team before joining King & Oliason. His interests include running, hiking and golf.

Tammy Woodmansee, CPA

Tammy graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a B.A. in Business Administration, emphasis in Accounting. Her more than thirty years in accounting has included audit work for a national accounting firm, work as a controller for an international finance firm, and manager of a regional tulip company. She is an accomplished sailor and has cruised from Seattle to Ecuador.

Tax Professionals

Joe Beauregard, CPA

Joe has a B.S.F.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from The University of Chicago. He has extensive experience in public and private tax accounting, including working in Europe for a national firm, as well as with a national investment management company. His interests include gardening, traveling, cooking and reading.

Chloe Choi

Chloe received a B.A. in Business Administration and minor in Chinese language from Pacific Lutheran University. Upon completion of an internship with King & Oliason, Chloe was hired as a full time Tax Associate in 2016. Her prior experience includes bookkeeping work. She is currently studying for the CPA exam and plans to pursue a Master in Taxation. She enjoys swimming, drawing and reading in her free time.

Chengying Deng, CPA

Chengying, who is from Mainland China, worked for a national public accounting firm for five years prior to joining King & Oliason. Her focus was both federal and international filings for corporations, partnerships and individuals. She received both her undergraduate and master's degrees in accounting from the University of Washington. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Washington. Her interests include running and spending time with her son, family and friends.

Megumi Emhoff, CPA

Megumi received her B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting from Seattle University. Prior to joining King & Oliason, she worked at a national public accounting firm and in the tax departments of both high tech and finance companies. Her interests include spending time with her family, traveling, and exploring new foods.

Sue Forhan, CPA

Sue graduated from the University of Washington where she obtained a B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting. Sue has over ten years with a national public accounting firm and several years experience with local firms. She recently returned to the Seattle area and joined the King & Oliason team.

Cedar Gehm, CPA

Cedar has worked in public accounting for more than three years. Prior to becoming a CPA, Cedar was a full-charge bookkeeper. She has a B.S. in Science-Nutrition from Bastyr University and was a chef at local Seattle restaurants before changing careers. When not at work, Cedar enjoys time with her teenager, staying healthy through food and exercise, traveling and volunteering in the community.

Laura Griffin, CPA

Laura has a B.B.A. in Accounting and a Master of Accountancy in Taxation from the University of Georgia. She worked at a Southeastern regional accounting firm for two years before relocating from Atlanta, GA. Laura enjoys creative writing and exploring the outdoors.

Brett Norville, CPA

Brett has Bachelor of Arts degrees in Business Management and Accounting as well as a minor in French from Washington State University. His career has spanned both public accounting and work at the IRS. When not preparing taxes, Brett finds his Zen skiing or backpacking in the Cascade Mountains, cycling, playing tennis or going to local concerts.

Malaika O’Rourke, CPA

Malaika has a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master in Business Taxation from the University of Southern California. She is a certified public accountant in the state of Washington. After spending five years working for a national accounting firm, Malaika worked in the tax departments of a national retailer and a global technology company. Her interests include spending time with her family and traveling.

Aaron Peterson

Aaron has a B.S. in Accounting from Central Washington University. Prior to his work with local public accounting firms, Aaron worked in the construction industry. His interests include golf, skiing, sailing, wakeboarding and playing the guitar.

Jo-Ellen Smith

Jo-Ellen has worked seasonally for more than ten years for King & Oliason. Originally from the east coast, she has a B.A. from Colby College and a M.A. in Communications from the University of Pennsylvania. During the non-tax season, she has a Marketing Consulting practice that specializes in research and communications. She is an avid skier and golfer, as well as an active volunteer in community activities.

Anna Tanchilevsky, CPA

Anna joined King & Oliason in 2015. She worked in the public accounting industry for almost five years before joining our firm. Anna is a licensed CPA and holds a B.A. in Psychology. Her interests include spending time outdoors in all seasons, cooking, travel and photography.

Katherine Wentz

Katherine received a B.A. in Communications, with a minor in French, from Western Washington University and a M.B.A., with an emphasis in Accounting, at Seattle University. She worked part time at King & Oliason before joining the firm full time in 2013. She enjoys spending time outdoors during all seasons, experimenting in the kitchen, and checking out the local music scene.

Pat Wentz

Pat has worked for King & Oliason both year round and seasonally for more than a dozen years of her thirty-five year accounting career. She has a B.A. in Accounting from Central Washington University and a M.B.A. from the University of Washington. Pat works extensively with partnerships and corporations. Her interests include reading, politics and spending time with her family.

Administrative Staff

Courtney Bennett

Courtney joined King & Oliason in 2017 as an Administrative Assistant. Her responsibilities include tax return processing, office organization, and firm communications. Her background includes various administrative and creative roles in several Seattle theatre venues. She has a B.A. in Theatre from State University of New York at Oswego. In her free time, Courtney enjoys reading, writing, creating and attending theatre, and tinkering on various instruments. When she can, Courtney enjoys going camping and horseback riding.

Carolyn Burkland, CPA, Firm Administrator

Carolyn joined King & Oliason in 2006. She has a B.A. in Business Administration, Accounting from the University of Washington. Carolyn has 25 years experience in accounting, including audit work for a national public accounting firm and financial reporting management for a national Seattle-based retailer. She has served as president of the Ryther Child Center League and Coe Elementary School PTA.

Tracy Colman

Tracy joined King & Oliason in 2015 as Executive Assistant to our partners. She is also involved in marketing, recruiting, website maintenance and human resources. She has extensive experience as an administrative professional in the fields of private investments, banking and manufacturing. She enjoys time with her family and volunteering in the community.

Whitney Pilz

Whitney has been a part of the King & Oliason team since 2010 and wears many hats as the downstairs Administrative Assistant. She provides bookkeeping services for clients and the firm; serves as the e-filing coordinator; heads up our billing department; and prepares simple tax returns. Whitney has a B.A. in Political Science from Western Washington University. Outside of work, she enjoys running, relaxing at her family's cabin and spending time with family and friends.

Maria Tomchick

Maria is the resident expert on computer software and hardware issues. Maria oversees our e-filing process and manages billing, collections and the preparation of financial reports for the firm. She has worked for King & Oliason for over twenty years. Maria has a B.A. from the University of Washington. In her spare time, she practices and teaches kung fu, tai chi, and qi gong and is an avid reader.

Grace Wallis

Grace joined King & Oliason in 2015 as the upstairs Administrative Assistant. Her responsibilities include processing tax returns, handling all office communications and overall office organization. Grace graduated from The Master's College in Santa Clarita, CA, specializing in Music Composition and Theory. In her spare time, she practices piano and composes music, studies Japanese and volunteers with the Seattle Symphony.